CEO: Rosneft to cut 2020 investment program to 750 bln rbl

NOVO-OGARYOVO, Moscow Region, May 12 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Rosneft plans to reduce its investment program to 750 billion rubles from 950 billion rubles in 2020, CEO Igor Sechin told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

“Considering the… worrying state of the global crude market and the approved decisions to reduce oil production, we will have to optimize some our capital expenditures. We will try to maintain our investment program at around 750 billion rubles,” he said.

Sechin also asked Putin to soften the banks’ policies to support the investment programs.

“We will try to maintain investment dynamics. The key thing for us, where we strongly need  government support, is softening the banking policy, linked to affordability of lending, to affordability of working capital. This is true for us… for our contractors and for our suppliers,” he said.

Putin said that Rosneft needs to keep the entire chain of contractors and subcontractors, and that he had earlier discussed with oil companies creation of a fund for drilling operators.

“It is important for us to keep the entire chain of contractors and subcontractors, because your orders provide work for many industrial facilities,” he said.

Sechin also asked Putin to delay payment of the geological survey taxes so that Rosneft could prepare for the end of the crisis.

Putin said that he wants to meet with Sechin separately to discuss the state of the energy industry and Rosneft.

“I would like to meet with you separately, as we previously agreed, to discuss how…  you see the situation in the industry, how Rosneft is doing, and which problems are important for you,” he said.

Putin also promised to discuss adjustments to the transport monopolies’ tariffs to make them closer the current market prices.

Sechin told Putin that Rosneft organized 250 isolation units and 68 observation units at its facilities, and increased the rest and recreation period for its rotation workers to 90 days to fight the coronavirus disease.

“The situation is fully under control. We are in constant touch with the regional governments and the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare Oversight,” he said.

Sechin said that Rosneft has started exploration drilling at its Vostok Oil project.

Vostok Oil, a joint project of Rosneft and Eduard Khudainatov’s Neftegazholding, comprises the largest fields of the Vankor cluster – the Vankor, Suzunskoye, Tagulskoye, and Lodochnoye, as well as the promising oil sites in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Region such as the Payakha group of fields owned by Neftegazholding, and the Zapadno-Irkinsky block.

Rosneft’s Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex has floated off a debut Aframax gas motor fuel tanker, he added.

(73.8725 rubles – U.S. $1)

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